2.519 



THE 



lELIGION OF THE SUN 



jl postiotmous poem, 



OE 



THOMAS PAINE 



ITH A PREFACE, BY THE PROPRIETOR. 



PUBLISHED FOR THE BOOK-SELLERS, 



PHILADELPHIA 




Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to wit. 

Be it Remembered, That on the 

************** eighteenth day of November, in the fifty" 

| l. s. | first year of the independence of the United 

************** States of America, A. D. 1826, Samuel 

Youke AtLee, of the said district, hath deposited in this office 

the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in 

the words following, to wit : " The Religion of the Sun, a 

Posthumous Poem, of Thomas Paine, with a Preface, by the 

Proprietor — Published for the Book-sellers." 

In confoimity to the act of the Congress of the United States, 
intituled, " An act for the encouragement of learning, by se= 
curing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors 
and Proprietors of such copies, dnring the times therein men- 
tioned"— x\nd also to the act, entitled, " An act supplementary 
to an act, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, 
by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the 
Authors and Proprietors of such copies during the times there- 
in mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
desieninsr, engraving, and etching historical and other prints," 
b e D. CALDWELL, 

Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 






PREFACE, 

Courteous Reader., 

You are at this moment presented to 
my imagination, with one hand eagerly grasping this little vo- 
lume, and with the other not quite so eagerly reaching out the 
consideration to the smiling Bookseller. 

You, perhaps, never would have been blessed with the peru- 
sal of this precious morceau, but for that man, whose prowess 
has been the theme of every tongue from Dan to Beersheba, 
whose appearance only, like Caesar's wounds, " would move e'en 
Stones to rise and mutiny :" whose talents long lay interred from 
public view, owing to the Snare into which he had fallen; but 
who was exalted by Freemen to a station, the duties of which 
never had been, nor ever will again be, discharged with so much 
spirit. 

You will have no difficulty in recognizing, in this description, 
the renowned Colonel Pluck, "of the bloody 84th." Now to 
my story : — 

It is known, I believe, to every individual possessing any 
knowledge of public affairs, that, some time since, divers per- 
sons, jealous of his great military talents and rising glory, did 
conspire against, and endeavour to prostrate, as it were, to the 
dunghill, this notorious disciplinarian. The proceeding was 
unpopular, and failed. The victory was celebrated by his friends 
and a concourse of fellow-citizens in a triumphal procession, the 
Hero, borne in a barouche, nodding, in imitation of his com- 
patriot, La Fayette. 

On my return from viewing this Pageant, powerfully remind- 
ing me of the Imperial Processions of ancient Rome, or, more 
aptly, of Alexander, in imitation of Bacchus, " I cast my eye 
up to the sky," which, on the way, vvas arrested by the Inscrip- 
tion, — " old and second-hand Books." Being fond of old furni- 
ture foj the head. I entered the Repository, and, after exarain-v 



PREFACE. 

ing many, purchased one, the interior of which was interspersed 
with scraps of manuscript, the paper browned, and writing- well 
nigh bleached by Time. 

In the investigation of them, I discovered, to my surprise and 
delight, the Title, "Religion of the Sun — by Thomas Paine," 
and traced out his very signature at 'the Jinale. 

In the airangement of these sybilline leaves, a few of which 
had been scattered to the wind by the*-heedless besom of a 
Bookseller, accounting for the frequent asteriscation throughout 
the Poem, I have succeeded informing a kind of orderly disor- 
der, sufficient to prove the Author worthy the high character of 
a Poet. 

The work being the production of Thomas Paine, I was fear- 
ful of giving it publicity, but many persons, having had a peru- 
sal of it, were unanimous in advising me to " proceed and fear 
nothing," for that the intrinsic value of the Poem counterbalan- 
ced all the anathemas of Prejudice : So, being an easy sort of a 
gentleman, always getting into scrapes, and too lazy to get out 
of them, I comply with their desire, the more willingly, because 
•One of them being a Preacher, prayed me to do so. 

I have thrown my literary foundling upon the ocean of public 
©pinion, solicitous lest the blasts of criticism should overwhelm 
it ere it be permitted to speak for itself. 

Start not, ye Muses ! at the introduction of a votary who has 
been reported to have "turned the world upside down!" He 
sings upon his high toned lyre, " But Fancy's Sketch." What, 
tho' he be the avowed Author of Rebellion, even in Apollo's 
realms? Yet, fear ye not, shy Damsels! Apollo smiles at the 
rhapsodies of this son of eccentricity, and, impartial, pours the 
genial influence full into his bosom. List but to his song, and 
you will then acknowledge him; and at the pauses which all 
destructive Time has made, let the pure tear-drops of pity be- 
dew your virgin cheeks, while the warm glowing sigh of com- 
passion, in mellowing harmony, breathes, " Alas ! our Brother I" 

S. Y. A. 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUN 



The pure religion and eventful war 
Of that fair orb, whose golden atmosphere 
Holds its bright torch to gild the march of worlds i 
And, like a flaming hieroglyphic, bears 
Symbolic shadowing of the mighty hand 
That lock'd its wheel upon the gorgeous car 
Of organ'd nature — knit my lofty song— 
A song well worthy of an angel's lyre — ■ 

Keruph stood 

Within the Cysicus of -Caloric's focus. 

His frame colossean, maiFd in angel gold, 

Was fretted with devices mystical, 

Befitting emblem'd panoply of one 

Who dar'd to mach'nate treason 'gainst high Heaverf 

A gheira canopied his folden brow, 

Pinnacled with a fiery Iris, speck'd 

With segetite coruscant beaming flame-— 

A bristling grove of spears, like beams, upborne 

On warrior's shoulders, blaz'd around his throne, 

More lustrous than the sun's refulgent coach. 

Buried in armour of metallic fire, 

Fretted with hieroglyphic mysteries^ 



4 THE RELIGION OF THE SUN. 

Stood the Imperial Hero. Round his frame, 

Which, armadilloed in bright amulets, 

Blaz'd like the golden apple'd grove of Heaven, 

Wreath'd burnish'd corslet — a cuish bent o'er 

The forward swelling of his muscled thigh, 

Harness'd by Plutus, and the moony hand 

Of Argentinus, netted with the wealth 

That Saturn sows on Dian's sparkling veil, 

Like sworded Pollux, wrapt in croeeous caftan; 

Ten thousand thousand constellated round 

Th' Imperial flag, as cluster lucid worWs 

Around the luminiferous brand of day. 

Pictur'd like bird of Paradise, some wore 

Tissue, plush, velvet, taffeta, barege, 

Terciannella, satin, silk and serge, 

Enamell'd in the various grades of lightj 

From ivory to ebon— others stood, 

Like sacred images on Papal shrine, 

Armour'd in topaz, sparkling in the blazo 

Of window'd pearl andfoliag'd diamond; 

While on their heads of trinketted bazar 

A golden eaglet spread his wide sercells, 

And brighten' d with its emeraldine jesses 

The casket spangled shade. Crest, targe and spear 

Flam'd, like refulgent towers of sculptur'd gold. 

In a fired city of metallic blaze; 

Or as the sun's sedan, beyond a cliff 

Of icy column'd Lapland, to the eye 

Of the stout native of that thawiess zone, 

Beams out, reflected thro' ten thousand halls. 



THE .RELIGION OF THE SUN» 

Saloons and domes of burnish'd icicles. 
So seem'd the fiery labyrinth, as if 
The golden serpents of the lightning, dropt 
From the cerulean palaces, to witch 
The dull insipid sceneries of earth, 
And cluster'd all their luminaried shapes 
Into one order'd volume — so appear'd 
The iiery-surg'd charybdis. * * * 

Upon a citrine pedestal exalted, 

Keruph's majestic form. Deep cacodemoii;, 

In paradise primevous ne'er difTus'd 

Such basilisk hypocrisy as glanc'd 

Beneath his dark wreath'd orbs. In his right hand,, 

A pondrous sceptre waves effulgently, 

With iris-painted amethyst and diamond ; 

Israel's description'd Anakims of old 

Beseem most similar to mem'ry's ken. 

With the undaunted fronts zoning around 

The proud, aspirant Keruph. Phrensied minds 

Of manna'd subtle lore — -have ye not heard 

Of earth's veil'd prophet, of Mohammed's guile ; 

Or know ye not of Hades' orciarch, 

An empire of eternal agony, 

Whence peace and hope are exil'd evermore— 

Thus run the fables, ken ye not of these ? 

Ye do, but when the heart is moulded in 

Infatuation's matrix, reason totters, 

Thought's by delusion chain'd, and folly tramples 

Beneath his juggernautic wheels the soul 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUN* 

Implanted in humanity * * * 

****** 

Wheel'd in diagonal and flaming columns ; 
Glittering as a wondrous globe of armour, 
Into a thousand mazy forms — as fleet 
As light outsprings thro' darkness — or as air, 
Thro' the' interminable void of space: 
Their evolutions ceas'd — beneath the dome 
Of the bright temple, forthwith did convene, 
A noble conclave of enthusiasts. 
The golden temple stood not distant far 
"From a blue lake of limpid element, 
Whose margin was a bank of blushing rose.s-; 
From that lake's oozy bosom there arose 
A fumy fragrance, like to diamond sparks 
Of early dew, that passes thro' a cloud 
Of aromatic shrubs before it reach 
Its destination. From that lake, 'twas said, 
Keruph had caught existence. * * * 
# * * * * * 

A a when the sapphirine parterre of heav'n, 
"Brocaded with corymbuses of gold, 
Hangs o'er its grot a bowerage of suns, 
The marbled deep reflects the mingled blaze ; 
So gleam'd the gorgeous meadow, when the chief 
Unfolded a mysterious letter'd scroll, 
That like a golden vexili mock'd the sun, 
And thus decypher'd it :— 

"Children of light. 
Host noble people of a noble orfcj 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUN» 

That rolls in majesty unparallell'd, 
The bright circumference of its radiant wheel; 
The God who scoop'd the ocean with his thumb, 
Who spat upon a world and caus'd a flood, 
Whose lightest breath would quench our spheres effulgence^ 
Ruler of rulers', potentate of kings, 
Hierarch of hierarchs, sun of cherubim, 
Spirit of power, might and monarchy, 
Void of commencement and imagineless ; 
Thus speaks in me his prophet, thus directs 
Your homage, unto himbe offer'd. 
From the rich silver mount, in the far west;, 
Educe a temple, let it wear his name, 
His image carve from topaz bowell'd mine ; 
But not in man's similitude ; the men 
Of Phoebus' realm with those of earth's dark sphere 
Are brutes of planets, stiled other worlds : 
What seems to you a man ondoived with reason. 
Upon these bright domains in Jupiter 
Is yclep'd an ape ; and what appears an ape 
To our imagining, is there a man. 
Thus is it order'd, thus must ye believe. 
From the deep hoarding mines, it is commanded, 
Be hewn an eagle, gemming it with all 
Of wealth and splendour ye shall each adduce ; 
Within the golden temple be it bas'd 
On forty brazen dragons ; burning vales 
Must girdle it, and all who worship there 
Pass mid the; flames, and sinking low the knee ; 

2 A 



THE RELIGION OP THE Sfi3$T. 



Offer rich sacrifices to the deity. 

One priest shall from our cohorts vigorous 

Be chosen, his the power to dominate 

With undisputed sceptre over all: 

Him whom you choose hath heaven's lord anointed; 

Knowing to whom your prudent choice would point. 

All who oppose shall perish, for the lord 

Hath covenanted with the golden temple ;" 

Thus Keruph — and a savage shout of triumph, 

Mingled with God, and Keruph, shook the breeze j 

Fseans were sung and revelry arose 

Thrilling, with bursts discordant, Cysicus. 

Temples, shrines, monuments, altars and mosque^ 

Cupolas, pillars, minarets and towers, 

Hallow'dto worship, pinnacled with eagles, 

Instant bespangled valley, dale and plain. 

"Bright o'er a gew-gaw'd base the temple fulg'd 

Like mad volcano of enamell'd flam©, 

When clots of bright fire shingle its proud roof* 

And torrid comets thatch its golden sides ; 

Thus stood the high pagoda, window'd round 

With netted jasper and cornelian, 

Snchas'd infoliag'd sash of angel gold. 

The stately portal, hing'd on groaning brass, 

Wheel'd on its joints, when Keruph's armour'd hosts 

Hater'd on reverential foot the hall ; 

An amphitheatre of grandest view, 

Whose huge festoons of sparkling carkanets 

Fring'd witfe gay crescents, tire luxuriant scene; 



THE RELIGION" OF THE'SUff. 

And mingled in their jewell'd irises, 
The radiance darting from the gorgeous shrine, 
Pavillion'd in voluptuous fiow'rets stood 
The idol eagle; lily, jasmine, rose, 
Luscious sweet briar, and discous heliotrope 
Wove an umbrella for the figured shrine. 
Where Ornicynthia in its cup display 'd 
Stamina, peering o'er a diamond pulpit, 
That duck their sapphire bonnets in the breeze; 
Or pour the balmy chrysorrhage adown 
The silver carp'ted chalice, whence the petals 
Branching with arborescent arteries 
Of topaz, rear their golden-bearded bells,, 
And impregnate the burses of the breeze 
With camphorous spice, as when the vivid flash 
Of lightning, tapestries the foliag'd skies 
With fiery landscape, and a golden view; 
A cloud escutcheon'd with electric bordure 5 
Hurls, from its mantling, javelins of fire 1 
Or when the moon, in gay gondola, plies 
Her silver oar upon the purple waves 
Of heaven's spacious ocean, paddling thro' 
The golden button'd curtains of the skies— 
So shone the bow'r, so hung the idol bird 
On burnish'd jesses- * * * * * 

ije # * * * 

Rapt by red monsters, harness'd in proud barb 4 
Champing the bit, and tossing the long mane- 
The altar flam'd— a dragon led the van, 
Whose scaly briskets a steel collar clasp'd, 



10 THE RELIGION OF THE STJK. 

And press'dthe tow'ring poitral, while hisback ? 
Gorgeously garnish'd with appendages 
Of flowerag'd bardello, fluttering 
Beneath the ginet saddles radiant arch 
Of ivory pummel, tinsel'd cousinet, 
Cygnet-down'd seat, and jasper-buckled girth. 
A foam-wreath'd bit rung on the snowy columns 
Of his fine champing teeth, whence martingale, 
Cavesson, head-stall, and coruscant trappings, 
jRagged with diamonds, bath'd in fulgency 
The scaly charger, on whose gem-eyed saddle? 
A naked priestess rode ; adown her back 
Stream'd glancing curls of hyacinthine silk, 
In amorous discord; from their braiden fount 
They wanton'd round her fine voluptuous orbs 
Of molten lazulite, seraglios 

Of tenderness and bland lascivious love. 
***** 

The luscious tinge upon her damask cheek, 
Fus'd its vermillion with her liliate face, 
As gracefully, as mingles the carnation 
With the fair snow, upon the pluma shell ; 
Her waist, adorn'd by tap'ring snowy breasts, 
Tipt with deep blushing roses, mildly slop'd, 
Into her bellying flanks, whence burning thighs 
Swell'd gently, breathing rapturous lewdness round, 
Archelion flung his pondrous helmet on, 
Of flaming metal, from the gorgeous veins 
Of golden bowell'd Chrysophus, thatarch'd 
With Crested cupola the monarch's head : • 



THE ItELlGlON OF THE SUN. 2.1 

Like earthly mountain, view'd thro' telescope, 
Bristling with ligneous hair, and pillowing heaven, 
The casque, diaphonous, pois'd gaudy plumes, 
Pluck'd from a solar eagle, whose bright wing, 
Walks the refulgent atmosphere alone ; 
And wrests the efflorescences of light, 
To deck its pinion: from the soul of nature. 
Rich charg'd with order'd life, to vivify, 
Confirm and ornament the solar orb. 
The down of silver mingling with the wreath 
Of feathery gold rush'd capering o'er his crest, 
And ranks of gems, sham'd with the company 
Of diamonds, blaz'd indented round the verge. 
Next, the coruscant cuirass lock'd he round 
His hardy breast ; a twisted hauberk, fram'd 
Of massy brazen rings, such as impend 
From monumental urn or chariot wheel, 
Ringing sonorous, sheath'd his flaming shape, 
Gorget and gauntlet, brasset, tasse and cuish 
Gleam'd from their residences ; martial stings 
And arms defensive, threaten'd round his form ; 
While charge, escutcheon, mantling, motto, crest, 
Sketch'd in Olympic fire, adorn'd his shield. 
The astral warriors, thund'ring in their arms, 
Wheel'd into phalanx at the chiefs command; 
And marching to the spirit-stirring sound 
Of pealing instruments, unfurl'd the bright 
Imperial flag, that, like a comet stream'd, 
Flapping the golden vapours of the sun. 



1"2 THE- RELIGION OP THE SO!. 

And bearing on its meteor trophies, arms, 

And all th' emblazon of rich heraldry. 

Archelion sprung like a wing'd mercury 

Into his sun-bright coach, upborne on wheels 

Of thund'ring iron, whose embattled spokes, 

Larger than mountain pine, or column cut 

For solemn temple, shot from axletree 

Of pondrous brass. The purple canopy 

Was heav'd on pillars of blue lazulite, 

Red tourmaline and yellow chrysolite— 

Irnpelfd by artful engine on it flew, 

O r er vale and mountain, swiftly as the spear 

Of lightning, plunging thro' the sapphire vault : 

Now the harsh sounds of hostile instrument, 

Grated upon the breeze ; and now the clang 

Of iron foot jingled upon the flint ; 

And now the plumes ruslrd on the quiv'ring wind, 

Baiting with pride to crest such valiant frames. 

Throng'd with refulgent helms and lustrous shields 

Bristled with beamy spears, the fiery field 

Flash'd radiance insupportable. Like furies, 

On rush'd the jarring elements to fight. 

File knit with hostile file, at every plunge, 

As rapid steel drew blood, that, like a fount, 

Gush'd from the helmet, summon'd by a rush 

Of steel, as from the dry and flinty rock, 

The rod of Moses summon'd forth the lymph. 

Brass thund'ring shiver'd brass, and from the orb 

Of shatter'd shield leap'd lightnings ; arrowy sleet. 

Illumm'd heaven with threat?. Not swifter fall, 



THE RELIGION OF THE SOIN> fd 

Nor more voluminous, the scathed locks 
Of naked grove, when wintry Boreas 
Uncresting Pan, sounds on his huge guitar 
Of thund'ring forests, the wild "March of God/ ; 
Cybele roek'd as when the lightning plucks 
His golden gauntlet on : turrets and spires, 
Topple tumultuous, and the rock-bon'd earth. 
Dug with his spade of streamy fire, gasps wide: 
While castles, towers, palaces and domes, 
Like teeth on the great earthquakes mighty jaws, 
Grin terribly, so rocked the carnage'd field, 
With fulmin'd wheels and madding javelins, 
Cartridge, bomb, angel and cartouche, while cars, 
Shaggy with scythes, haiberts and scimetars, 
Belch'd forth their stormy magazines of death, 
And hurtling field puk'd out its smoky clot 
Of warm Sidonian gore and Pyon stream, 
When, swifter than the sparkle of a star, 
The golden girdle of the sun was rent; 
Creation quak'd and trembling like a coward, 
Darken'd the firmament. Heaven's pyrotechny 
Tinsell'd the margin of the scowling mist, 
And threaten'd second chaos. Glitt'ring o'er, 
An ebon pedestal of clouds distinct, 
With arteries of fire, an angel's form 
Stood radiant, shell'd in armoury of pearl, 
And starr'd with gems of colour, lustre, form. 
Discordant, yet harmoniously arranged 
In rose, festoon, indent, console or fret, 



14 THE B.ELIGION OP THE..gUN. 

» 

A golden hilted bickern, in his glove 

Of jewell'd joints and lustred brassets, hung, 

Bask'd in the radiance of his purple boot, 

That rough with Plutus and the circling flow'rs 

Of Amphitrite, twitch'd alternate sparks; 

A buckler, brighter than the sun at zenith, 

Flung on his arm, of bordure, sinople, 

Orled with amulets. The purple sGutcheon 

Of argent margin, in its fesse display'd 

A saliant shape of barbed Pegasus, 

Charging thro' cloud and stormy element ; 

While constellated on the flaming field, 

Scintillant blazon flash'd — an armed tire 

Gleam'd splendent o'er the flood of chrysolite, 

That frisk'd adown his burnish'd corselet. 

Surprize unarm'd the fierce antagonists, 

And calm'd the conflict ; when mad Keruph thus, 

" Fight on! fight on! ye lily liver'd limmdo. 

What ! now desist, while moody-visag'd Mars 

Plucks laurell'd Pan to decorate our brows?" 

The cherub interpos'd, and as he flung 

An angry glance on raging Keruph, said : 

*< Put up your sabres in their silver chambers. 

Till opposition call their counsel forth." 

»« The devil blast thee black, damn'd muslin face ! 

Whence, and what art thou ? By the viprous beard 

Of Orcus' damn'dest goblin, this rough scimetar, 

Hack'd like a saw by hacking hostile bones, 

Fractur'd by fracturing opponent sculls, 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUIS, 

This scimetar shall spoil thy symmetry." 

The shape, struck with the heroism of guilt, 

Address'd the raging fiend : " Art thou a man ?■" 

" Am I a man !— aye, and a fearless one, 

That would confront the devil, or change hardiment 

With th' hottest knave in hell. Come, answer me, 

Whence, and what art thou?" — Ceas'd he with a frown, 

And clench'd his rabid sword, that, threat'ning, shone 

Upon his yellow cuish, as the broad stream 

Winds thro' autumnal plains of golden corn, 

And hides its crisped tide in clust'ring woods : 

So on his thigh of gold gleam'd the bright blade, 

Losing its radiance in the tassel'd hilt. 

Thus the cherubic nature form'd reply: 

" Mission'd from heav'n to scourge the bloody day 

That has unvirgin'd this fair maiden orb. 

And stands accursed in the register 

Of the recording seraph, have I come- 

The naked halbert of omnipotence 

Hangs vengeful o'er this culprit continent, 

And there must hang, until the morbid plant., 

Whose foul miasma hath infected thus 

The healthy woods, be wrested by its spurs., 

But neither place, time, nor occasion. 

Sanction the subject's agitation here i 

si On, therefore, to the areopagus !" 

The willing regiments wheel into rank, 

Line, column, wing; and, fronting to the patli 

Of Purpolis, in ordcr'd file advanc'd 

To martial music, when the cherub cried, 



1© THE RELIGION ©F THE S^JV, 

To the nigrescent masses round the skies, 

Curling their misty locks, " Go !" and they did go. 

The tempest muffled up its stormy drum, 

And sheath'd the lightning falchion, curbing ia 

The furious chargers of the hurricane. 

The angel join'd the king — Enchanted flow'rs, 

Wreath'd with lueific beams of various tint, 

Such flowers as embroider the blue veil 

Of sparkling night, beneath his footsteps sprung, 

Charging the zephyr's tepid fan with breath 

Of nafta, jasmin, civet, amber, musk, 

Camphor, myrrh, bergamot and benzoin, 

Fuming from cygnet chalices, that bloom'd 

Esculent gold. On downy oar, the bird 

Sail'd thro' the sea of flaming atmosphere, 

Or in a leafy portico of beech, 

Attuning universal Pan, forth from 

Their candy'd quillets pour'd the bland refret. 

Various and sweet, as when the dulcet choir 

Of timbrel, lute, guitar, lyre, flageolet, 

Eugle and clarion, weave the serenade; 

So sweet and various flow'd the mellow hymn. 

Now the bright city flash'd upon the view, 

Bearing its mitre tassel'd with proud spires, 

High cupolas and star-capt monuments, 

To pillar heav'n— the gorgeous rnajiature 

Of rich tiara, girdled round with belt 

Of twisted ingots, spurning mountains, blaz'd 

Like a tumultuous sea of liquid fire. 

The flood of heroes pass'd the portall'd arch, 



THE RELIGION OF THE SITJT. V'l 

And stood before the citadel of judgment. 

The floor was pollard marble, whence the pile 

Of haughty columns tower'd beyond the beam 

Of vision. Pillars, crystalliz'd from 

The saline casket of the wealthy deep, 

Heav'd in Corinthian pomp, display'd rich veins 

And arborescent arteries, that tower'd 

From pedestal to bright entablature. 

Sparkling with rose, modillion and console, 

The fretted cornice fulg'd. The sculpturd frieze 

Exhibited in basso relievo, 

Symbolic justice, bandag'd, bearing scales ; 

While knitted architrave, from gaudy store 

Of ribband, flow'r and bead, in gay baguette. 

Or light festoon, hung amiably o'er 

The gorgeous capital, as fleecy clouds 

Impend their rosy curtains o'er the couch 

Of orient aurora, buckling on 

Her golden armour of bright atmosphere. 

The capital unfolded its rich purse 

Of art and treasure ; the nice workmanship 

Exceeded the material, whose value, 

Valueless, beggar'd ev'n the richest ken 

Of solar architect. Flower'd with curls 

Of angel gold, and number numberless, 

Starr'd round with meteoric jewelry, 

That darted like galvanic phosphorus' 

Scintillant fulgour, and emblazon'd heav'u 

With fiery forest, as the foliag'd pile 

Caught the sun's naked ray, and hurl'd it back 



18 THE RELIGION OF THE SUN, 

Gloriously garb'd in all the tints that light 
Can press on shade, from the refulgent shaft. 
The bright, colossean, stately, trunk arose 
Of fluted topaz, arteried with rills 
Of gaudy pearl, and shaggy with the fires 
Of jewels, constellated round the base, 
Cornice and pedestal ; eclips'd in splendour 
The higher column — Such concentrated flood. 
Of condens'd fulgence never fa-'d before, 
Object, as if the pile attracted light, 
Halo and grace, as does the magnet, steel. 
Now, sabres, halberts, helms and prancing plume 
Snter'd the conclave, an apartment, vast? 
And fram'd beyond the narrow intellect 
Of sublunary fancy. The proud ceiling 
Was one continued sun, unvaried, save 
Where sphere of light, as far surpassing our 
Golden-gown'd sun, as does our sun surpass 

The glow-worm, pended from a ecutcheon'd eluel 

Of violet beam, so bright and luminous s 

That eaglet curtain'd his sun blazing eye* 

And flutter' d blindly in the dazzling blaze-. 

The floor was carpeted with jewell'd down, 

Pluck'd from the ornitheha's shadowy wing, 

To which, contrasted, our proud peacock were, 

In beauty and variety of hue, 

A crow— nebules of starry tapestry 

Arch'd the walls, peopled with illustrious shapes 

Of statues, heroes, vases, busts and urns ; 

While tall, alternate columns, round the hall 



TSE RELIGION OF THE SUN- 

Haloed the place with light, reflecting all 
In their bright mirrors, multiplied the blaze ; 
When ev'ry warrior in his order'd seat 
Reclin'd — Th' angelic nature rose and spoke, 
Rich tropes and fiery metaphors, distill'd 
From angel's genius and observation, 
Ineffable, in sublunary tongue. 
And unintelligible, save to sprites 
That verge omniscience with an ocean 
Of shoreless intellect, adorn'd his theme — 
" Chieftains and soldiers ; — children of the sun ! 
We meet to day upon a shameful case. 
Whose bloody fellow is not register' d 
In the just archives of recording heav'n* 
Till now, this sphere has sanctuaried fai'thj 
With nurse's care and father's tenderness^ 
In stainless snow : but now, ev'n very nov/ ? 
Religion, shackled with the gaudy forms 
Of ceremonious insult, slineKs 10 neavn 
For vengeance ; and she soon will be aveng'd. 
Towers of rich insult, heav'd among the stars, 
Sculptur'd affronts, sneering to scorn the bolt 
Of heav'ns artillery ; contemptuous domes, 
And scoffing castles, helmeted with clouds." 



" Too comprehensive is angelic soulj 
To prostitute the justice of its god ; 
Too comprehensive ev'n to comprehend 

% B 



THE RELIGION OF'THESSlY: 



That it can comprehend the deity ; 

And yet too comprehensive to suppose s 

That justice's pure basin can perform 

^Gainst every principle of moral justice* 

The mighty God, eternal, infinite, 

Omnipotent, omnivident, omniscient, 

Whose grandeur is announc'd, from the nerv'd wing 

Of viewless insect, to the mighty mass 

Of worlds — his hand pancratic knit the tendons 

That wheel, with instant revolution, round 

The insect's eye ; and arm'd the vivid atom 

With fine fil'd poignard, or an osseous shield; 

Escutcheon'd with the heraldry, that paints 

The humid arch of heav'n, to defend 

Their spark of animation, and support 

A.n ephemereal society. 

Sv'n in the fibre of that insect's eye ? 

Empires of lesser animals exist, 

To which cornpar'd, an atom were a world ! 

And in their puny orbs, unnumber'd kingdoms 

Of various animalcula reside ; 

\nd their small visionary globes contain 

As many nations, as this solar sphere 

Possesses atoms. In the little pore 

That perforates the wing of one of these, 

Eevolve bright systems of unnumber'd worlds* 

Peopled by rationals ; yet optic ken 

Of microscopic convex never shall 

Engraft this branch on philosophic tree? 



T-HE REVISION OF THE Strife gjf 

Tho' vaies and mountains, oceans, lakes and streams, 

On the minutest of these order'd spheres^ 

Revel profusely in discordant concord. 

There puny tyrants wave the golden rod. 

And deem themselves the mightiest of the mighty; 

Verging omnipotence like feeble man : 

God sits and laughs at your philosophy. 

These are the pigmy wonders of his hand, 

Divisible thro' all eternity. 

This sun, the brand of worlds, is scarce a drop 

In the great ocean of created things; 

For he and the illustrious satellites 

That roll on wheels unponderable, round 

His bulky mass, revolve again around 

A mighty system, whose titanic march 

Girdles a giant sphere, which tumbles o'er 

Another orbit and another yet, 

Thro' an infinity of whirlwind worlds* 

Peopled by men of stature marvellous, 

Upon whose finger-ring this golden sun 

Would scarcely form a little chrysolite. 

These are the boundless wonders of his hand* 

Yet these are wonderless, contrasted with 

The wonderful machinery and laws 

That guide their course. The vegetable vein* 

Nurturing the mass of matter organiz'd, 

Sneers at the idiot man's philosophy. 

How springs the orange tree from lifeless earth-* 

How buds the leaf upon the infant branchy 



22 THE RELIGION OF THE StW. 

Summon'd thro' multitude of suck'ling tubes 
Unto the destin'd spot, where it expands 
Its frame of verdant velvet, and exhales 
Confectionary f aromatic sweets, 
Bak'd up in fetid earth and filter'd thro' 
Ten thousand fragrant processes. How blooms 
The flow'ry chalice in its leafy hand- 
How drop the flow'rs, and in their scented seat 
Leave golden globes, of taste ambrosial, 
To decorate the banquet's verdant board ? 
Why this ? — why this ?— speak, great philosopher ? 
Thou who canst harp o'er causes and effects, 
Explain the comet's fiery consequence, 
Measure the march of worlds, or sagely descant 
On God's uncharitable dispensation, 
Correct the plan and legislation 
Enacted by the deity. Why this ? 
Philosopher! alas J audacious snail, 
Scarce worth the dignity of sacred scorn. 
Creep thro' thy rancid crevice, creep and learn 
Thy ignorance upon the learned page 
Of nature's code and silence blasphemy. 
God gave you frailties, therefore, pardons them ; 
Because, to strike a creature to the dust, 
And punish him eternally for falling, 
Would argue God's pusillanimity. 
Blasphemous argument ! and yet, 'tis urged 
With much mysterious absurdity, 
That, for obeying sacred nature's mandates, 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUN. 

A deathless worm will ever gnaw the heart 
Of man, that, after death, will have no heart. 
Can the bold villain answer when he rears 
Temples from flinty marble, gemming them 
With ruby, silver, pearl or emerald ? 

* * * * * % 

These are his Gods, and he their worshipper," 
Despair hangs frowning, in a midnight robe, 
Above delusion's votaries. Lethal darts 
Are staid in instant, e'er their vengeance burst 
In ten-fold thunder o'er the helmed brows 
Of Keruph's followers — " God, from his throne 
Of light, conceptionless to mortal thought, 
Tow'ring above the skies, as heaven tow'is 
Above the worlds below, girdled around 
With dazzling light, and bright seraphic shapes,, 
Each waving with a cloud of waving suns, 
Each grasping in his spiritual hand, 
Unlike corporeal substance, a bright dow s 
Colour'd with nameless hues, yet similar 
To tbose we view upon the skies below. 
When Phebus, from his torrid crucible, 
Sprinkles his molton gold upon the clouds, 
And shackles earth to heav'n with saffron links 
God, on his throne of suns empyrean, 
Mocks at enchantment's fancy-fabled tongue: 
So beautifully pure, ineffable 
In richness and in glory ; what are we, 
Contrasted with the spiritual choir, 



24 THE RELIGION OP THE SUN, 

Hinging eternal halleluias round 
The Raja's Majesty ? Weak, ephemereal. 
Poor insignificants, permitted to 
Respire a portion of quintescent air, 
Then, like the dying flowret, fade away 
Into a spiritual essence. Wisdom, 
What art thou? handed down to memory 
By Lore's tradition — an idle problem 
Ever unsolv'd, unsolving paradox ; 
Confusing confutation, reasoning 
'Gainst reason : its quick prompter, a far goal, 
Which, when attain'd, beseemeth farther off! 
Strange inconsistencies, yet made consistent- 
Beneath the heavens what is religion ? 
From this we need not err when, from above 
The star speck't canopy of other suns, 
God roll'd the flame away, and thus inspir'd 
His mighty herald, to inform your prince, 
Humblest of worms, the worda of a true creed: 
There is alone, one everlasting God, 

Whose high behest, imperial, rules heavens* 

***** 

When this short transient being fades away, 

In due oblivion, th' immortal soul 

Ascends to regions of eternal bliss. 

There, grottos, fountains, balmy groves and bow'rs, 

Mingling with incense from nectareous lakes, 

And streamlets of the softest azure, rolling 



:t>H£ RELIGION OF THE SUN. 25 

Perennial. Oceans of liquid gold, 
Harness'din galliots of porphyry, 
With wings distended, flout the rushing wind. 
There angel mariners sit on the shrouds 
Of blooming crystals, bound to lofty masts 
Of ligneous sapphire, hewn from dazzling forests. 
The galliots fly along the purple waves, 
As lightning thro' the clouds, and dash aside 
The billowy corruscations, that impede 
Their forward march. 
What folly reigns in man's immortal mind. 
That thus a marbled villain should usurp 
The rights of God, and in their stead replace 
The wrongs of man with vanity and crime. 
*•"*•-':*,.".-..*-■■'* 

* * * seraphic ken 

Bounds not the great one's house, for all these worlds 
Are particles of ineensp, from the censor 
Creation holds, to his omnipotence. 
Therefore give over and suspend this stuff; 
J^et not an unconverted man remain 
In all the sun, and heav'n forgives your error. 
But heav'n will sheathe its vengeance in the breast 
Of Keruph, Proud Conspirator of God." 
The cherub ceas'd, and from his helmet shot 
Radiant darkness, as voluminous, 
As beams diverging from the lucid sun. 
The sanhedrim was clouded in the flash 
Of pitchy noxj and whispering murmur rata 



2S THE RELIGION OF THE SUN- 

Arouad the host, astonish'd to behold 

Darkness, a stranger to their burning sphere. 

The cyanus of light; when a bright shape, 

Fiery, not radiant, enter'd the saloon, 

As blazes phosphorus in ethiop night, 

So flam'd their figures in the darken'd hall ; 

Brindled and tramel'd in such gorgeous trim, 

As if wing'd Cthonius had unwealth'd the burze 

Of sparkling Pluto, or his conch-borne brother, 

To form a garb so costly to the view. 

The aim had mock'd his art — the fiery form 

Beseem'd a knight of Doris, on whose dress 

The nymph had lavish'd his empyrean 

Of gaudy shells from Tyros' quaintest bow'rs- 

A flame of feathers, bickering on his crest, 

Wav'd its luxurious drapery above 

The polish'd Sea's-ear murrion, that press'd 

His lambent ringlets, whence brown Saturn seem' 

To have expell'd his yelJuw son, ana tnron'd 

The sylvan daughter of his thund'ring child, 

On Pluto's seat. An epicycled mound 

Of brindled purse, shone for an epaulet 

On either shoulder, challenging the light 

To walk the windings of its mazy couch. 

His breast was til'd in corselet of pearl, 

Shell'd in hebraica and scal'd in gold, 

That wore, upon its pencil flourish'd field, 

Starry phalanges and gay trappings, whence 

Oonch&ted volumes to his gaudy shoes 



THE RELIGION OF THE SUN. £7 

Of mother pearl, unveil'd their jewellery 
To the articulated corallines, 
That wanton'd lambent on his pictur'd helm 
Of orange beams, and bright magnesian field, 
Whose mazy windings might explain the orb 
Of optic mirror, and extinguish quite 
The flaming marvels of Aurora's bust. 
Not India's golden quarry, nor the bow'r, 
Drest in the flow'ry coat of adult spring, 
Could weave a costume of such order'd beauty, 
As what enwheel'd the warrior of the wave. 
A starry shield of echinita, flam'd 
Upon his arm, while fretted pecten zon'd 
The graceful swelling of his shadowy breast ; 
There purse, tiara, crown and golden cloak, 
Cluster'd, as round blue Amphitrite's car. 
A coral bow, with twanging sinew bound, 
And dart of pearl, with glassopetra fang'd, 
Pencil'd their innate fulgence in his grasp* 
He knelt, and arrowing his prowess'd arch, 
Drew the proud nerve like sagittary Chiron* 
The feather d jav'lin bounded from the bow. 
And light again immers'd the wond'rous sphere, 
When fiery Crotus vanish'd on the wing 
Of sable night. Dug by the flaming dart, 
Mad Keruph shriek'd, and beat his casqued brow \ 
Then, pluck'd with fitful and convulsive twitch. 
The smoking arrow from his bleeding heart ; 
Gaz'd fixedly, grinning grim pleasure on it, 
Bless'd it j then, starting, with galvanic leap> 



£8 THE HELIGrON OF THE STJN. 

Spurn'd on it, damning the infernal sting, 
Caught the red stream exuding from the gash, 
Blasphem'd, pray'd, curs'd, and fainted in a breath. 

T. PAIN!. 



FWALE. 



Should the readers of this work meet with any incongruities 
in their perusal of it, they must attribute it to the age of the 
manuscripts, which has rendered the translation of it very difii* 
cult. 



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